How To: Drivin’ the Beach (inspired by actual events). By Dr. Bogus

If you are a staunch surf fisherman like myself, access to the good spots, jetties, inlets, bars, sloughs and the like, and mobility to get from one to the other, are high on the list for a successful catching, not just fishing trip, to the beach. Here are some totally BOGUS tips to help the sand-bound fisherman return home with both their vehicle and pride intact.

Things to know BEFORE you go:

First there is the checklist of things to keep on board, and you better check it twice: tire pressure gauge, tide table, tow chain, rope or strap, a thick wooden board and shovel and repeat after me “NO beach toys”. And, do you have a cell phone?? Is the battery charged?

I know it seems basic, but please make sure you are in 4 x 4 mode, BEFORE you go over the ramp onto the beach! People forget all the time and you can easily tell the forgetful when their vehicle has just gotten onto the beach, just over the ramp, where some of the softest sand usually is, and already has one set of wheels planted squarely in the quicksand. That baffled look on the face of the driver is also a dead give-a-way. It’s so easy, just remember get into four-wheel mode BEFORE you go. By the way, have you ever forgotten to put the plug in your boat, and wondered why you were sinking as you left the dock? No, of course not, not me either!

Again, BEFORE you proceed over the entrance ramp, lower your tire pressure to around 20-psig (15-25) and remember to repressurize after leaving the beach. It’s a safety thing. These days there are inexpensive tire deflators that automatically deflate to a set tire pressure, Tire Buddies, Oasis Trailhead Tire Deflators are some of them. Lowering the tire pressure increases the area of the tire that is in contact with the sand and will allow the vehicle to ride on top of the sand, where you want to be, rather than sinking in up to your hubcaps.

One of the things that I have on the checklist was a tide table. If possible, plan you tides, low/outgoing tide is best. Know thy tide, plan ahead and move up on the incoming tide before you and your 4 x 4 gets soggy and salty.

Going:

Start straight, start slow when you go, or you’ll pay the tow. Never gun the engine on a start, let out clutch slowly if you are driving a manual transmission, and don’t throw sand. Keep wheels straight ahead when starting up. Drive in the tracks left by the vehicles before you if possible. The sand is already packed down in these areas and you have a much better chance of not getting stuck. Another choice, depending on the tide and beach conditions, drive on damp hard packed sand and remember air is your enemy; it’s what makes sand soft. Driving at low tide and rain soaked sand are the best; avoid soft and deep soft and fluffy ruts (hahaha).

When you are on the beach, you often have to turn around or make other “moving” maneuvers, so plan your turns don’t cut them sharp, be gentle and plot your spot. Turns should be made going down hill, from soft sand to hard, it’s a killer to turn from the low hard sand near the water, uphill onto something resembling grits.

Keep mo(mentum) whenever you go, this is often needed in the performance of Olympic class off-road maneuvers or when exiting the beach onto a vehicular access point which is always up hill, soft and rutted. Watch for entering vehicles. Who has the right of way anyway? If you encounter traffic when entering or exiting the beach always give the vehicle on the beach the right of way.

Stopping:

When stopping, always plan ahead, only YOU should choose the time and place to stop, start and turn. Remember, the next thing you will want to do is GO. When you have chosen where and when to stop, don’t break, let your car coast to a stop, gravity and friction are your friend in stopping and usually don’t need any help. Where should you stop? If possible, stop on a down slope. Pick out a down slope with the firmest sand you can find. After you stop, kick out the sand that piles up especially ahead of the front tires.

You are probably catching tons of fish, but know thy tides and watch the time; the beach shrinks quickly on the rising tide from hard sand to soft. When parking you will want to try to do so off the main trail so that others can drive by you in the packed ruts. Just courtesy, that’s all, and if you would appreciate it, so will others.

When you get stuck, before you call the truck ($$$):

You will get stuck we all have, we all will, sometimes the beach just wins! There are some dos and don’ts for the stuck truck. Remember, dig out before you bottom out!! I know it’s cool to spin you wheels as you sink down in the sand until your under carriage is resting on the sand, but don’t. First of all, get out of the car, move sand away from the tires, and smooth out tire ruts, give yourself enough room to find forward mo(mentum, p=mv) again. If you can’t go forward, try backing out, sand is flatter where you were, than where you were trying to go. And oh, if you bypassed step number-two (see things to know before you go) now is the time to lower tire pressure. Often, that alone may get you going again.

How about other options? That board in the back of the car or truck, can be used for changing a tire, or under these conditions, for traction. Start slowly and make sure everyone stands aside and no one is in the line of fire. Pushing helps, but remember it’s bad form to run over the pusher or bury them in a cascade of sand. Of course if there are other 4x4ers on the beach, now might be the time to dig out that towrope, strap or chain. There is nothing fellow 4x4ers like to do, sometimes even more than catch fish, than to help out a fellow but stuck 4x4er.

After all the planning, after all the preparation and care, watching the tides and all, sometime “IT” happens! Such were the woes of an angler this fall, driving the beach, looking for a fall run of spotted sea trout somewhere along the North Carolina coast, but it could have been anywhere and could have been anyone. Parked in a slight depression of hard sand near the surf line at low tide, the fisherman, I’ll call this mythical beach worrier, Sonny, decided to move his truck to higher ground as the tide started to come in. First he couldn’t get out of the depression and in moments the sand did turn to something resembling grits and any movement sunk him deeper and closer to the now rapidly encroaching tide.

Plan “B”, when all else fails, now call the truck. Does your local garage do beach calls ($$$)? So Sonny enlisted the services of a local rescue service, but as fate would have it, their fate was now the same as Sonny’s, both stuck in grits, the ocean now above their hubcaps and the unrelenting tide still on the rise. Now in panic mode, plan “C” started to take shape, call in the heavy equipment before the two trucks were declared an artificial fishing reef. Can you say bulldozer? Well the ‘dozer did the trick, but not before both trucks and the reputation of the Sonny the angler were forever and irrevocably totaled. As I said, sometimes “IT” happens.

Finally, when driving the beach, think of safety and the safety of others first. Drive within local beach speed limits, driving responsibly means watching for beach-goers. You want to give a safe distance when passing people on the beach and be especially mindful of children playing as they are NOT going to be watching for traffic on the beach. Each municipality has their own regulations and remember access is a privilege not a right so respect their regulations, the local flora and fauna, regulations on restraining your pets and of course be mindful of bird and turtle nesting areas, and when leaving the beach make sure that you take all of your trash, and discarded fishing line with you. Well, good luck on the beach, and may your tires find only the firmest of sand.

CONTACT INFO AND CURRENT STATUS FOR 2019 (posted 9/22/19):

Vehicle access to our beaches: Emerald Isle (9/15/19-4/30/20), $50 for residents, $100 for non-residents free for residents 65 and older (252.354.3424). Indian Beach (currently open), $30 for the season at Police Dept. (252.247.3344). Atlantic Beach (10/1/19-3/15/20), $50 for residents, $75 for non-residents, NO night driving (252.726.2121).

Photos courtesy of Bil Gburek

Dance of the mullets: Fish jump. Some jump for food, like the explosive sky shots of the king mackerel as he hits a bait and some like the tarpon for survival in their attempts to escape captivity when hooked. Mullet jump. Theories include predator escape, parasite removal, spawning behavior, aid to respiration and so on. My theory borders on the cultural and artistic; the dance of the mullets. On a morning early, with the idle chatter of mother nature unusually prominent, the creek was filled with the pirouettes of hundreds of mullets leaping. Their splashing return of silver droplets framed by the sun and with apt musical accompaniment of the high pitch of swallows on violin, kingfisher on piccolo, ducks and herons playing double reeds of the bassoon and oboe respectively and of course the woodpeckers-clearly percussion. Mulletcracker Suite, Mullet Lake or Dance of the Mullets!! Fish Jump.

Click on jumping mullet image to enlarge.

Photo compliments of David Sobotta of CrystalCoastLife.com

Fishin’ the Fort (Macon), by Dr. Bogus

Ft. Macon State Park, on the far eastern end of Bogue Banks along Beaufort Inlet, became the North Carolina’s second state park in 1924, for the outrageous purchase price of one-dollar. Today the fort is one of North Carolina’s most popular, attracting over one million visitors a year, seeking out its long rich history, beautiful beaches and excellent seasonal fishing for the occasional weekender, out-of-state visitor or serious angler.

Recently while visiting the fort, I talked to Dick Cudworth, a frequent visitor and fisherman, who splits his time between Greensboro and Salter Path and asked him for a tour of the park’s fishing areas.

“First you start at the short jetty at the swimming beach,” said Cudworth, “it’s easy access from the parking area, and it’s a short walk to the beach.” “That short jetty has a good foundation of rocks, then there is open water from there to the big jetty (at the fort). One side (east) of the big jetty leads into the channel, which gives you a chance to fish in slowly moving waters to about 15-feet, then there is a drop-off, a drastic drop-off with quite fast moving water in the Beaufort Inlet all the way down to the Coast Guard Station,” explained Cudworth.

Like much of coastal North Carolina, fishing is year around activity, and that’s equally true for Ft. Macon as well.

“In the spring, just like the rest of the Crystal Coast,” explains Cudworth, “first is the bluefish run starting in April, and hopefully not too far from that is the Spanish, usually early May, and then the flounder.”

Like most of us, Cudworth will use live bait, mullet minnows, and artificials such as GotCha plugs or flashy metal spoons for the blues and Spanish.

For summer fare, Cudworth likes to target the flounder. Where?

“Around the rocks at the jetties,” said Cudworth, “either one of them seems to be an abundance of flounders, and this time of year, there’s reds in there too.” “Recently I’ve caught nice flounder, 16 to 24-inches from around the big jetty down to the Coast Guard Station.”

Cudworth is usually a traditionalist, using a Carolina rig and live finger mullet or live shrimp. “This time of year the mullet minnows seem to do a whole lot better,” says Cudworth, “there seems to be an abundance of pinfish, in the ocean and the live mullet minnows 3 to 4-inch seem to work the best, although I have used cut bait and had some success, and a lead-head jig with a white Gulp! 3 ½-inch shrimp. If it doesn’t seem like they want to hit one, you fish with the other, they seem to hit one or the other. One day it’s the minnows, the next it’s artificial, but my biggest citation fish have been on bait.”

As we get into the fall, speckled trout are the fish of the season along the Crystal Coast, and Ft. Macon is a traditional hot spot. When can you expect trout to usually show up? “About the middle of September,” said Cudworth, “and that’s a very productive time, actually all along the coast, but the Ft. Macon area has been really good on trout from the surf, and for some big ones too.”

Of course the big rock jetty is the famed location for sharpies looking for fall specks, but it’s not for the faint hearted. “To me it’s a little, actually a lot, slippery, and dangerous,” said Cudworth shaking his head. “I don’t really enjoy myself there. Fishing along side of it is fine, but not so much fishing out on the jetty rocks…I just feel better with solid ground (or sand) under me. It’s for the younger guys, oh yah. Maybe in my younger days, it would have been a whole lot better. You could walk out on the jetty and look for speckled trout and flounder.” MirrOlures, lead-head jigs with soft plastics or Gulp! baits and live shrimp on a cork are the baits of choice for citation trout.

If it’s red drum you want, either jetty is a good choice, but for Cudworth prefers the small jetty at the swimming beach for legal size drum. “I have in the past, at the short jetty better success catching “slot” drum (18 to 27-inches)”, said Cudworth, “there again using the Gulp! bait on a lead-head.”

For tackle, Cudworth, like me, prefers the light variety. “I use a light and also a medium action rod, with open-face spinner reels,” said Cudworth, “I use 8 to 15-pound test line and fluorocarbon leaders. With the lighter weights, you’ll have a lot more fun, and I think you catch more fish that way too.”

Everyone has their favorite spots; driven by their desired catch, ease of access or just to enjoy a relaxing day.

Dave and JoEllen Labrosse have found fishing the fort both relaxing, productive and an easy day trip from their home in New Bern. They get down to Ft. Macon as often as they can and have done so for the last five or six years. Like Cudworth, they are not jetty jumpers either, but like to sit, relax and bottom fish.

“We use bottom rigs, with cut bait, shrimp and squid, said Dave Labrosse, “we just like to catch fish, bluefish and pompano, pinfish and spots. For bait we like fresh shrimp and sometimes we cut up squid in small pieces.”

Their tackle is simple but effective, a couple of nine-foot rods, 20-pound test line and one or two-hook bottom rigs.

Where do they like to fish? “We actually usually fish right in the same spot, right where this first cut through the dunes is, just west of the big jetty,” said Dave. “Once in a while we’ll go around to the sound side. But most of what you catch over there is sharks, mostly little sharks, 10, 12, 18-inch sharks, black tips, bonnet heads, a variety.”

But just west of the jetty they have caught some nice fish. “This spring, I caught a Hatteras blue that was 28-inches, that’s a nice fish” said Dave.

“Last summer I caught a 16-inch pompano here,” chimed in his wife, JoEllen, “it was beautiful, they pull real hard. I caught it on shrimp. We ate that one and it was good.”

Not all fisherman’s wives fish, but JoEllen has fished for many years. “I’ve always loved to fish; I’ve grown up fishing,” said JoEllen, “my dad taught me back in Indiana from the time I was little. It’s totally different than ocean fishing here, and it took me a little while to get used to fishing the ocean, with the waves, currents and everything. I was used to fresh water.”

What does she like to catch? “Anything, anything,” said JoEllen excitedly, “but I haven’t gotten anything today, it’s too rough and a lot of that red sea weed, it’s a mess.”

After talking with the Labrosses, I walked east past the big jetty and down along the Beaufort inlet area where I found a young couple Ryan Willett and his wife Heather Lawson from Havelock enjoying the day relaxing and fishing on the beach.

“The family and I come down here several times a summer,” said Willett, “today I’m using shrimp and looking for sea mullet, maybe some hogfish, small things for the fry pan.” “Usually I prefer the rock jetty, where you can find trout, some flounder around the bottom; the sea mullet seem to collect around there better too, but with the family it’s a shorter walk to hit the point,” explained Willett. “Out here on the point I mainly use shrimp, squid or GotCha plugs if I can find some blues or Spanish working.”

Willett also likes to fish the big jetty for speckled trout and flounder. “Personally I’ve gotten some trout in the 20, 21-inch range, one on a mullet, one on a GotCha. Those are good days,” said Willett, “and for flounder, I mostly use mud minnows or small finger mullet. Live bait is key for those.”

Willett’s wife Heather occasionally fishes the fort but prefers fishing the inside creeks for red drum and flounder, but loves to visit Ft. Macon. “It’s great here, you can enjoy the beach, fish and there are the free concerts too,” said Lawson.

Fort Macon State Park

Address: PO Box 127, 2300 East Fort Macon Road, Atlantic Beach, NC, NC 28512

Office Phone: (252) 726-3775

(252) 726-2295

Web: http://www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/foma/main.php

Email: fort.macon@ncmail.net

Fort Macon State Park, Park Hours

Bathhouse Area:

November – February, 8 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

March, April, May, September and October 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.

June – August, 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Swimming Area:

10 a.m. – 5:45 p.m. Memorial Day until Labor Day, if staffing permits

Fort Area:

March, April, May, September and October 8 a.m. – 7 p.m.

June – August, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Fort, 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Closed Christmas Day

Park Office Hours

8 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday – Friday

Closed state holidays